The second annual Nashville Jazz Festival happens this Saturday (October 24) and Sunday (October 25) at 3rd and Lindsley. Presented by the Nashville Jazz Workshop lineup features local to national acts with ties to the local jazz scene and serves as an extension from the work the jazz workshop does year-round.
”Our motto at the jazz workshop is jazz for everyone,” Executive and Artistic Director of the Nashville Jazz Workshop Max Abrams said. “My goal as director has been to bring you into the jazz tradition, into this music at wherever you want to meet us. If you wanna learn to play, we’ve got amazing classes for kids of every age. If you want to hear the music for the first time, we’re there for you, 150 shows a year. The festival, in my mind, is the diamond. This is our entire Nashville jazz tradition coming onto one stage for two nights, 71 working musicians on stage all playing together celebrating community, music, and its role in Nashville today.”
Jeff Coffin, who is the saxophonist with Dave Matthews Band and has played with Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, has been living in Nashville since 1991. He is a professor at Vanderbilt and serves as artistic director of the festival. He talked to WNXP about the growing jazz scene in Nashville.
“I’ve watched this scene grow and blossom and the amount of people that are not only coming to town, but also staying in town, the jazz scene here is really quite amazing,” Coffin said. “I don’t think that it has as many people as, say, in New York or Los Angeles, but there’s not 10 million people here, either. I look at the players who are here as every bit the equal of players anywhere around the world.”
”I moved here in 1999, and one of the greatest joys of my life has been seeing the scene grow, thrive and diversify,” Nashville Jazz Workshop director Abrams said. “So many opportunities arising for musicians of all different backgrounds. Finding a place, not just in an improvised music scene, but finding their place here in Nashville and just seeing the support growing, not just for the Nashville Jazz Workshop, not just for the festival, but for jazz and improvised music all over town. We’ve got an amazing audience for it now, and it’s just been such a joy to see the population of musicians grow, but also the audience for this music grow right here in Nashville.”
Meghann Wright is marketing director for Sun Label Group, which includes the jazz label Green Hill Music that’s operated in Nashville for over 30 years with one of their artist Dana Star Tucker performing at the festival. The label has worked closely in partnership with Nashville Jazz Workshop to put on series and events and she spoke about how the relationship between the two can continue to grow the jazz presence here in Nashville.
”It’s incredible to see how many people are starting to discover that there is great jazz here, there are great jazz musicians, and Nashville Jazz Workshop plays such a huge part of that,” she said. ” For a jazz label in Nashville, where everything is focused on country and traditional roots music, it’s hard to find your peers and your colleagues. So being in partnership with them it just fits so perfectly.”
Additional event opportunities start tonight (Oct 21) when WNXP Trivia is at Vinyl Tap, Sugar is at Brooklyn Bowl, and Madi Diaz performs at The Chloe. Thursday night (Oct 22), The Smashing Pumpkins perform at the Truth and Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit continue their residency at the Ryman. On Friday (Oct 23) Michigander is at The Basement East and Wishy performs at The Blue Room. Also on Friday DJ Shadow is at Marathon Music Works and Guerilla Toss is at DRKMTTR. On Saturday (Oct 24) Sober Sessions presents Songs That Saved My Life is at Marathon Music Works and My So-Called Band performs at The Basement East. Sunday (Oct 25) Morrissey is at The Pinnacle and Edgehill is at the Basement East. Wrap up this week’s listings on Monday (Oct 26) with WNXP presents Ian Sweet with Meg Eliser at DRKMTTR. For more events head over to WNXP.org/events.
